JD2210 Broken parking brake handle AND loose throttle

[DanMc77]

I have yet to see any reports of issues with the parking brake on the 2210, so I guess I get to be the first.

The plastic parts on JD tractors are a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the replacement parts are generally not horribly expensive, but a curse because if they were metal, they probably wouldn't need replacing!!! It is, what it is.

Anyway, the plastic parking brake on my 2210 broke earlier this summer, and I've been putting off replacing the part. Then yesterday, the throttle lever suddenly loosened up and constantly returned to idle. I'm glad I held off on the parking brake fix, because both repairs are in the same area.

In this thread, I'll cover what it took to repair both of these issues.

First gaining access: The hood has to come off, which involves first disconnecting the rod that holds the hood up. This is a spring clip under the hood that's pretty easy to remove. Then two nuts that attach the left hinge to the hood. After that, the hood slips off the right hinge, which is just a pin. That's not too bad.

Then the fuel tank has to come out. 3 bolts on each side, and the tank can be lifted out. But wait, there are two rubber hoses going to the top of the tank, and then the outlet on the bottom. Disconnect the bottom hose from the fuel filter and drain the tank, then lift the tank enough to slip the hose off the tank itself. That hose is kind of snug where it's routed down to the filter, so it's better to leave it there and unplug It's much lighter when empty! The top hoses are easy to slip off, and the tank can be lifted out. Stupid mice chewed up the insulation on the wires going to the fuel level sensor. Yet another thing to fix!!!

With everything pulled apart, and it wasn't very difficult, I was able to pull the cracked parking brake lever and begin putting the new part in. Here's a pic of the underside of the broken brake lever. But wait --- what's that little black piece? Keep reading. I'll cover that in the next post.

 

[DanMc77]

Crapola!!! Often times, one repair leads to more repairs. When the new parking brake lever was being installed, there was the sound of something dropping off, and landing under the tractor. What's this little black piece? You've got to be kidding me! Now something else is broken!!!!!!

The parking brake lever is held in place by a steel pin, and that is held in place by a plastic tab on each side. Those tabs are molded into the plastic shroud that wraps around the bottom side of the dash. Here's a pic of the inside of the shroud, showing the missing, broken off tab on the left. The right tab hasn't broken off -- yet!

Fixing that will be in the next post.

 

[DanMc77]

At this point, a decision needs to be made. One option is to replace the whole plastic shroud under the dash. This is more money, and then the tractor sits for a week while waiting for the part. The second option is fix the existing shroud and have the tractor back in service with no extra cost and it will probably be done tomorrow. We'll go with option 2.

Option 2 will involve a simple L-shaped metal replacement tab that is slipped in next to the missing tab and screwed to the inside of the shroud. But the pivot pin is too short. This is why it's so handy to have a lathe! When we have a friends over, often times I'll give them a tour of the shop in the basement. The centerpiece of the shop is the 13" South Bend lathe down there. The first question they ask will be: "What do you do with that??" I feel like saying, "Boy that is a dumb question!" But the kind answer is "Build stuff and fix stuff". Today we're fixing stuff.

The original pivot pin will be too short to reach the additional tabs that I'll add on the sides of the shroud. So fixing stuff often involves making new parts. The new longer pin can be seen above the original pin that is now too short. I'm hoping that the new pin is long enough. I'm getting nervous, but a yet-longer pin is only about 30 minutes to make on the lathe, so it would be no huge loss - just another part to toss in the pile for future use.

Next up, the two new pivot mounting tabs will have to be built.

 

[beenthere]

Sorry for your struggles Dan.

 

[DanMc77]

Nah, not struggles. Opportunities to make the tractor better. They all need TLC. I could have spent more than double the price for a squeaky clean new machine with a warranty, or fix some stuff now and then. Actually, we wouldn't have the machine if it was the new price.

But I wouldn't feel that way if the engine threw a rod out of the crankcase. For that I'd need a box of tissues.

 

[WinterDeere]

Nice! While you're set up for it, why not make 10 pins and throw them up on ebay or etsy? Folks with the same failure will find this thread, and then your store.

I guess that tractor must be about 16 - 19 years old, which isn't terrible for needing its first few repairs, as much as we all wish all moving parts were made of steel. On the flip side, can you imagine what the machine would've cost off the lot, if it were?!? Probably would've knocked it right out of the market toward which it was aimed.

 

[DanMc77]

Every time a new part needs to be made, the first thing is to scrounge around looking for some junk that can be repurposed, and a shop with a lot of junk (but not too much) is the best place to look. The first pick was to find some aluminum or steel angle that came close to what I needed. There was a piece of steel angle iron that came close, but it was much heavier than needed and would be time consuming to machine. Then I stumbled on the pile of scraps left over from when the wood deck railing was replaced with PVC. It was easy to make a little L bracket out of PVC, and it had enough thickness to be able to tap it for a couple screws. I haven't had the heart to throw out all the scraps because I see value in just about everything. It paid off this time.

Here's a pic showing the new longer pin with the added PVC L bracket to replace the original broken-off piece. There was enough pin length to move the cotter pin to the end, where it's easier to get to. The original cotter pin location was in a rather odd place, on the opposing side of the right pivot support. The hole can be seen in the new pin.

The new pin was indeed too short to add another L bracket on the other unbroken side. The decision to trust the other side not to break saved me from having to make a new longer pin and the second L bracket. I may regret that decision in the future. Some you win, some you lose.

 

[DanMc77]

Here are a couple pics showing the repaired brake latch lever. It works perfectly. Is it better than new? Yes it is, on the side with this splendid new PVC L bracket.

 

[DanMc77]

Here's a pic of the throttle friction adjustment. It's just two nuts tightened against each other. After 18 years of being married to each other, these two nuts decided to go their own way. It's not hard snug up the throttle and get them to reconcile back together with a couple wrenches.

The final fix was to cut the fuel gauge wires chewed up by the mice and slip heat shrink tubing on, then solder them back together and shrink down the tubing. I didn't think it was important to take a pic of that. It's just wires.

It's a happy day! The 2210 is back together, better than new!

I hope this post is helpful to somebody some day.

 

[DanMc77]

One final comment, and this pertains to mice. I filed a declaration of war, seeing my chewed up wires.

I think I have found the best mouse trap ever made. The biggest problem I have with traps is that the mice are sneaky enough to lick off peanut butter bait without setting off the trap, and I have experimented with quite a few types of traps, and mice are often able to outsmart them all. I've even had mice chew up the trap itself without setting it off! This new Victor mouse trap is the best. The mouse has to lift a little cover to get to the bait, and it gets them every time. They're not any more expensive than other traps and gets them every time. Add to that, the trap is super easy to set and it's not sensitive to being bumped. I'm tossing out all my other traps for these.

Robot or human?